Trails of Africa

The Birmingham Zoo has been under construction for quite a while working on its newest exhibit – the Trails of Africa.  That exhibit opened up to members of the zoo earlier this week.  The kids love the zoo!  This morning the nursery at church was going to be closed for Spring Break, so we just made the decision to skip church (you’re welcome, fellow churchgoers) and head out to the zoo.

This was our first trip pretty much anywhere that we let the kids run free (no “monkeys” a/k/a safety harnesses and no stroller).  Penelope was happy in her stroller, and the kids were thrilled to be free.  They actually did a pretty good job of staying with us, though I don’t think that one person alone could have handled it.  From now on, however, I think that our default when it is all six of us will be one stroller for Penelope and freedom for the big kids.

Because the kids seem to still be starving all the time, we took a break about mid-way through our trip to eat at the new joint inside the Trails of Africa.  Again, the kids were on their best behavior.  They all sat down for the entire meal (without being strapped in) and actually ate without trying to get up and run around.

We walked around some more, and of course had to go see the monkeys.  The whole time we were there, Henry was asking to see the monkeys.  Every time we passed a building that looked remotely like the primate building, Henry started yelling “MONKEYS!”  He was beside himself when we finally went into the primate building.  He’d run up to each glass exhibit, and yell, “Monkeys!”  He’d watch for a bit, then say, “More monkeys!” and head off to the next glass exhibit.  When we finally ran out of monkeys, Henry said that “monkeys are all gone” and then everyone seemed to be done with the zoo. 

We took a break to sit down before we left, and I managed to get a photo of all 4 kids.

Penelope was as happy as she could be the whole time.  She sat in her stroller and smiled and laughed, whether we were walking or sitting still.  I think she really enjoyed being out with her brother and sisters – and of course seeing the animals.  It was her first trip to the zoo, after all!